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Pops & Botches: AEW Dynamite – 05.19.2021

AEW Dynamite Pops & Botches

 

It’s May 19th. You know what that means.

POP: Christian and Sydal tear it up

Dynamite is a show that consistently gets to the point. You never have to worry about the show opening with HHH rambling on and on for 40 minutes just to set up a main event that’s going to end in a DQ to set up the same match next week. Nah. These dudes like to start their show with a great wrestling match, end it with a great wrestling match, and sprinkle in just enough entertainment fluff to keep the plebs happy. It’s a winning formula, and I’m glad that it’s actually leading to them winning.

Speaking of starting off with great wrestling…

This match was fantastic, and it’s exactly the kind of thing that shows that great in-ring work is the true foundation of good wrestling TV. I’m looking forward to the Casino Battle Royale that this was all in service of setting up, too. For once, it seems like AEW is really pushing to bring a story into the match rather than have everyone speculate on who’s gonna grab #21 and debut/win. That said, I’m predicting CM Punk and Bryan Danielson both drew #21 and they’ll both win and then everyone claps.

Nice to see them making good use of Ricky Starks, too, while his neck heals up. He’s been solid on the mic, but this recovery time will likely do him a lot of good on that front as he’ll get to focus more on that end of things.

Get well, soon, Ricky!

Also nice to see AEW making good use of storylines crossing over each other. Hangman’s ‘hold my beer’ schtick is always great.

POP: Rap it up, B

Pro wrestling raps are usually the worst. Slow, lazy rhymes that are meant to appeal to the dumbest audience members for cheap laughs. “LOL, he said deez nuts!” Dumb stuff, more often than not.

This one, on the other hand, was pretty universally applauded. A nice burn that led to an immediate receipt from Mox. Good stuff. I like this Platinum Max Caster kid. Kinda reminds me of late-90’s HBK, too.

As for the match itself? Also very good!

On paper, it was pretty obvious that this match was meant to set up Mox/Kingston moving up the rankings so that they can take on the Bucks at the PPV, but AEW continued their habit of making matches with predictable outcomes still very fun to watch. Again, I really did believe that either team could have won cleanly.

Also, our biggest question from last week has been answered, and – yes – “Wild Thing,” is here to stay. And they got the best version of the song, too.

POP: It’s not a cinematic match, we promise!

The best part of this entire Ethan Page / Scorpio Sky vs. Darby Allin / Sting feud is, by far, Tony Schiavone emphatically insisting that the inevitable PPV tag team match is a forreal wrestling match. Live and in person. Not a pre-taped thing. “This is NOT a cinematic match!” is my new favorite Schiavonism.

I’m just as excited for this one as the last one, too. Though, I will say that if they’re eventually building toward a Sting / Allin split, I hope it happens here as I’d hate to see Allin relegated to PPV tag matches forever.

POP: Characters being characters doing things

This is a pretty good one-shot short that shows off everyone’s personality in a concise way. On Monday nights, they would have opened the show with The Pinnacle delivering one of those aforementioned 40-minute diatribes. On Wednesdays, though, we get to the point.

Did we need this segment and The Inner Circle standing in the ring taking turns announcing that they all accept a challenge that we definitely know they’re going to accept? Nah. But, to their credit – that also didn’t take 40 minutes, so we’re good.

POP: Baker vs. Shida is going to rule

Shida squashes the NPC, just as she should. I know I said that I wanna see matches where I can believe both competitors can win, but I also appreciate a good slaying of a quality NPC every now and then.

The meat of this segment, obviously, is Dr. Britt Baker gettin’ that heat on the big title match at Double or Nothing. I am sooooo ready for this.

I feel bad for Shida as her reign was definitely muffled by the pandemic. She’ll eclipse 365 days, but without crowds to prop up her string of quality title matches, I worry that her run is going to be largely forgotten. Baker, on the other hand, is going to benefit immensely from becoming champion just as she’s peaking while also being on the brink of live audiences returning.

Shida was the champion we needed. Baker is the (future) champion we deserve.

POP: Kenny is right here, you know

I know he’s supposed to be a dick here, but Kenny’s actually doing the right thing as an EVP.

Cassidy got concussed in his match with PAC, so Kenny’s offering him a one-on-one match when he’s recovered while still agreeing to honor the match with PAC at the PPV. That’s not the typical chickenshit heel move we’ve been fed over the last decade or so, and I’m down with that.

Kenny just wants to have good matches without literally killing people. Boo that and you’re the heel.  😛

POP: Just buy the NWA already, Tony!

Seriously. Just buy the NWA. That’s the only way we’re going to get Aldis vs. Omega, anyways.

I love that AEW has been making a concerted effort to increase the number of women’s division matches on Dynamite. It’s been a running joke forever that we only get one short match at exactly 8:27pm each week, and it seems like they’ve gotten that note and improved their output.

Red Velvet is getting better by the week, and the story of this match reflected that – with the correct outcome, too, by my estimation. Serena Deeb is just too strong and too experienced and able to outlast Velvet’s attacks… But Velvet almost got her a couple of times. If this weren’t a taped show, I might have actually thought Deeb’s reign was threatened. More on that point when we get to the main event.

BOTCH: Just go for a pin, you dork

Like I mentioned last week, I don’t hate the idea that TKOs exist in pro wrestling. What I do hate, though, is inconsistency with how the rules are enforced.

I get it. His punches hurt real bad. Cool. Knock him out and go for a pin. I don’t wanna think “why doesn’t the ref just end this?” after every high spot or finisher is hit.

Also, it looks like our biggest fears about Cody’s injection of nationalism into his feud with Ogogo is going all in. Let’s tread lightly here, guys. This isn’t a rally.

POP: Miro. Everything about Miro.

Everything about this was pure gold. Miro’s bizarre salute to Jesus Christ, Archer’s interjection, and Miro’s response. All gold. Give him a mic more often.

POP / BOTCH: Dark Side of the Tape

Once again, the AEW tag team division overdelivers with a killer main event.

Why’s this get a POP and BOTCH, you ask?

Memorex. That’s why.

I just don’t buy the Bucks dropping the titles on a taped show. The energy never feels quite the same, and I get the feeling that they’re the kind of guys that want everything to feel right when moments like that happen.

That said, if this were one of the special themed episodes of Dynamite, I probably would have felt more drama. The match itself was (again) really, really good… But it always seemed like a forgone conclusion that we’d be getting Young Bucks vs. Mox/Kingston at the PPV, so none of the near-falls the Blonds had landed for me.

This is 100% the kind of thing that will be alleviated by the return to touring with all of the shows being live. When things are spontaneous, it’s just more exciting. Nothing beats being genuinely surprised, and with the return of live shows + live audiences, I think we’ll get a lot more of that in the near future.

     

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